Greetings from Paul

1 Timothy 1:1-11

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

² To Timothy my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer ⁴ or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. ⁵ The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

⁸ We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. ⁹ We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine ¹¹ that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

When I look at Jesus, I see him reaching out to the most “despised”, “hated”, “shamed” in their Society.  I see Him value them by the way He treated them and spoke to them.  From Zaccheus, the tax collector to the Samaritan woman at the well, the way Jesus spoke and treated them was counter cultural in His day.  His actions spoke louder than words.  His actions allowed truth to be shared and received because He spoke life not judgement.

Our role as believers in Church is to “help people live a life of faith in God”.  Yes, we need to know the Word of God (Bible) and allow it to convict us and our behaviour.  However, our lives and our words should convict others in how they live and speak. 

In our world, kindness (in words and actions) goes a long way these days.  In our selfish world, generosity and giving is warfare.

I want to not look like the world, I want to look like Jesus.

Lord, help me to look and act more like Jesus.  May people look, see and hear me and see Jesus more.  Convict me and challenge me where I don’t look like Him.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Written by Ps. Sue Botta

Have a look at this helpful Bible Project overview of 1 Timothy.